Removable Facade
by Bondo sheetmetal
Summary: The Thousand Years of Sleep are over, and an ancient evil with a grudge returns to Hyrule, from the Twilight realm. What could have the power to traverse the realms without the Mirror of Twilight? The answers are buried in the past and Link must uncover the secrets left behind by the Hero of Time to fix this disaster.
1. Chapter 1

**Before we begin the story I would like to inform you of a few things. This story relies heavily on fan theories and speculation that I found to be interesting. If you do not find the theories to be interesting in the slightest then this fanfiction will probably not be for you. But I must ask you refrain from taking away the entertainment of others, if you do not like it then do the adult thing and click away from the page. **

**On the note of continuity while I will try and keep as close to the games as possible it might slip once or twice for the sake of artistic flavor. Also while I am on that subject, the characters, places, enemies, equipment and villains are all the property of the original game producers. I am merely a puppet master with borrowed puppets. Only a very few specific characters are mine, as they do not exist in the normal games or lore.  
**

**Without further ado here is your story!**

**Tales from a strange man.**

A rather thin man, who still had his youth about him, sat down at the counter of Telma's bar. His eyes were heavily slanted and squinted but despite this they were large and could convey a wide variety of emotions. His large toothy grin seemed almost too big for his face. The strangest thing was that no one seemed to notice that he had just entered a few moments ago, it was like he had always been there just over looked until now. He chuckled at the surprised expression of Telma, owner and barkeep of this establishment, as she just realized he had sat down.

Before she could even ask he replied to her unspoken question, "a drink would help my parched throat, but unfortunately I have little coin to speak of, and even less to trade. But what I do have, is a story to tell. Although it has yet to be completed, as long as it is interesting even an unfinished tale should be worth one drink." at the mention of a story the entire bar seemed to quiet down, almost as if on cue. With a quick glance of the entire room, the man smiled his ear to ear toothy grin and sat down upon a table facing the rest of the guests.

"To truly appreciate the story that has yet to be completed, I must first tell you another, one that an old acquaintance of mine put rather well. 'Before time began, before spirits and life existed... Three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule... Din, the goddess of power... Nayru, the goddess of wisdom... Farore, the goddess of courage... Din... With her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru... Poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore... With her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law. The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm.' He really could tell that story better than the rest of us... May he rest in peace.

This is the story that all of us Hylians know, we were told it as children, but the story isn't as simple as we are meant to believe. Before the goddesses took leave of the physical world, they left behind not only the Triforce and the spirits of light, but also a lesser deity to watch over the world, to keep an eye on things. The silver god Ordonan, (or-doh-nin) created by their combined power, reigned over the land justly. He was boisterous but somber, proud but humble, vengeful but forgiving, both mask and identity, shadow and light. After much debating the golden goddesses allowed him to create his own piece for the Triforce and his own spirit of light. So he crafted the silver piece that adorned the center, that represented the duality of all things and the balance that must be maintained and the light spirit Ordona, who was charged with maintaining the Ordona province of Hyrule.

While the Goddesses intended for their work to be pure and wished for only good, he knew that balance was the only way the world could become self sufficient. He allowed the world to fall into chaos in order to counter the years of order. Every so often he would reverse the flow and the world would change one way or the other. But the severity was lessening, he was actively slowing down the swinging of the pendulum to allow for an eventual equilibrium. But his plans for balance were reduced to nothing when the golden goddesses saw the chaos.

The golden goddesses mistook the chaos and corruption that he sowed and branded him a traitor and usurper. They bound him and stripped him of his powers, refusing to listen to his pleas. They decided to split his power by thirds to regain the power they 'wasted' on him. Din as the most eager, went first. She drained his power but seeing fit to punish him more, solidified it into a corporeal form to wave in his face before absorbing it. She formed it into a small square board of strong and powerfully magical red oak. Farore was next and agreeing with Din she too decided to create a physical representation of his power to allow him to watch. She formed an ovular shape of pure white ivory. Nayru was last and too drained him of his power, and with this power decided to create a realm that would serve as his prison, as final punishment. With his power drained his great form diminished, his strong silver body was replaced by that of a pitifully scrawny and weak Hylian man.

With his power, courage and wisdom drained from him he was but a nearly insane shell of his former self. Although his power was drained from him he still retained some magic. With an enraged snap of his fingers, using up the last of his strength, and the crystallized forms of his power the red oak board and the ivory panel disappeared. Scattered across the world and hidden from view, the two pieces of his power that remained, were lost to the goddesses. Their fury with him redoubled and instead of being sealed away for all eternity alone and forgotten, instead he would wander the world forever to recover the power he stole from them. Nayru being the wisest decided to seal away the last bit of his power that remained. The Triforce's center piece was extracted from the rest and placed inside of the realm meant for him, just in case he would be daring enough to enter the sacred realm use its power in revenge.

So that is the story of how the world became, truly, balanced but at the most terrible of costs. It is a story that has fallen into obscurity since the time of the interlopers. It was removed from history and is for-bayed from being told because many think that the goddesses made the world perfect... but... something beyond their control, some cosmic evil tried to ruin the world. But believe what you want to believe, just keep in mind that with out these events, the story I wish to tell you wouldn't only be unfinished, it would have never even begun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Good night, Irene! This is one of the longest chapters I have ever written, and its all thanks to my wonderful beta Jaymzy! Without him I probably would have given up by now, which is pitiful seeings how its only the second chapter. So without further ado, the moment you have been waiting for!**

**Summer vacation is over!**

The world around him looked to be a normal open field, except for the fact that everything was either a deep crimson or royal shade of purple. Before he had a chance to move, two large orange-yellow eyes with green irises appeared and glared down upon him. He found that he couldn't look away, that he was compelled to look into the eyes and see the anger and hatred they held, as well as the pleasure and joy of chaos and destruction.

The green irises began to shrink into green glowing pinpricks on the vast yellow and orange background. Then the noise, a kind of creaking and shaking erupted from all around the young man as the eyes got closer and closer to him. When the eyes were close to him, almost close enough to touch his own, and all the could see were the green glaring irises, the noise stopped. But instead of silence it was replaced with a soft whisper of a new sound that grew slowly until it had become deafening. It was a scream, an indescribable scream that seemed to be filled with pain and anger. It chilled him to the bone and he awoke covered in cold sweat, panting and panicked.

He had become accustom to nightmares, usually they were brought on by the recent memories of the events from only three months ago. But this nightmare was new and so vividly different than any other dream that it frightened him, frightened him in a way that he knew never felt before and yet... it felt familiar.

_"By the goddesses,"_ He thought, _"what was that?!"_

When no answer came he just shook his head, but then suddenly paused. There was a sound in his house he didn't recognize, it sounded like a noise he heard in some of the dungeons... a type of mechanical clunking. After a short look around he notices a large circular object that was rotating around itself. It had an odd picture in the middle of its face, he also noticed a small picture of what looked like the sun. Suddenly he remembered and looked off into the sky to check the sun's position.

_"I'm late!"_

The rest of the day for Link was a blur, it felt like his head was in a fog and everything he did was sloppy. From falling off Epona while herding to getting beaten up by the scarecrow during sword practice. He just couldn't focus, those eyes and that scream were playing over and over in his mind. The appearance of that strange object, the purpose of which he could only guess was some way of keeping track of time, didn't help his new found clumsiness.

The villagers quickly noticed that Link's behavior was off today and, almost by an unspoken unanimous vote, told him to get some rest instead of the chores he was going to do for them. With nothing to do now he led Epona by the bridal to the Ordon spring, to bathe. With the amount of chores he did for the other villagers he had little time to bathe her, so her coat had collected more dirt than he had ever let her get before. Sometimes he even asked Ilia, when she wasn't busy, if she could wash Epona for him.

Twilight fell as he was finishing Epona's bath, and once again he felt the melancholy atmosphere surround him. The effects of the hour of twilight were felt differently by all some reveled in it, some feared it, and some felt it had a very sobering edge. Before the adventure he felt it had a very somber beauty about it. But now it only served as a painful reminder that the heroes always have the shortest end of the stick. It wasn't long before his thoughts turned back to that time... When she broke the mirror of twilight... he felt as if he was to blame for it.

_"Why couldn't I just say three little words."_ he had thought over and over again. But of course the answer had been with him for his whole life. He was born a mute, the most he could do was some indecipherable noises. It wasn't from lack of learning, he had great penmanship and had a vocabulary that could leave some dizzy... its just his vocal cords never developed the way they should.

With a bump from Epona's nose he was woken from his daydream. after realizing that he had been standing there for a while, with his hand just laying on Epona, he tapped her rear letting her know that he was done. With what could only be described as a sarcastic snort she trotted back home. Link smiled and shook his head in reaction to her antics, then following soon after her.

When he arrived home he finally noticed how dusty and cluttered his home had become in the three months of no cleaning. Cleaning his house was nearly a nightmare in itself, the broom had been buried under a pile of laundry, the feather duster had disappeared, so he had to go to the basement and get the gale boomerang, and finally five skullwalltula's had set up shop and made webs all across his house. Night finally fell as he finished cleaning his home, except the basement, and it nearly sparkled, he could swear that he saw his face on a wall somewhere. With all the chores he could think of done and out of the way he decided to head to bed. But not before getting a better look at that strange device on his wall.

_"Now let's see what you are..."_ he thought as he approached the strange thing. Gazing upon its surface he noticed the small sun indicator was gone, and had been replaced by a small crescent moon. _"So you do indicate time,"_ he thought as he turned away from it, _"but tough luck on me figuring out on how you work. Well with that mystery solved time for..."_ he paused his thoughts after he had gave it one last glance and noticed something he hasn't before, _"Hello? What do we have here?"_ Upon further inspection of the strange time piece he discovered a small corner of what looked like paper attached to the inside of the inner face. After turning the circular moon piece, he found that it was in fact a piece of paper, probably left behind by the someone who left this thing here. Upon opening the many folded piece of paper he found himself looking at a very crude drawing, like that of a child's, of a small boy with a sword on his back and some oddly dressed creature next to him. Behind the two are four strange things with stick like limbs and round middle sections.

When the investigations finished he climbed his way up the ladder to his bed, he placed the paper next to the bed and covered himself in the sheets. Getting to sleep was difficult this night, normally he was tired enough from physical labor that he would fall to sleep easily. But tonight he kept tossing and turning, his mind wandering back to the events at the arbiter grounds, his nightmare last night and the strange picture of a two children didn't help. He was relieved when he finally closed his eyes for a few minutes and felt himself drifting away.

He was awoken from his slumber by the feelings of panic and desperation. Sitting up and looking out the window he saw that the village was on fire! The brave villagers were trying their hardest to put it out, but the fire spread from building to building until everything was ablaze with burning light. Then suddenly an army of stalkin and stalfos appeared out of the darkness and attacked the village. Link couldn't do anything to help, his body felt as if it were made of tungsten, as he was forced to watch as everyone in the village was slaughtered in front of his very eyes! The lifeless eyes of the villagers stared up in his direction as if blaming him for bringing this calamity upon them.

He awoke with a start, for the second time, and after a second to process what had happened, sighed as he realized it was only a dream. That is until he heard a scream coming from the village. Literally jumping from his bead and rolling on the floor below, he grabbed his wooden sword and headed toward the village. What he saw was like his dream had come true, stalkin and stalfos were attacking the town. But it seemed as they were looking for something and focused on ransacking people's houses instead of killing.

Without waiting another second he charged, swinging the wooden blade with precise strikes. Taking a group of five stalkin by surprise, he swung the blade in a wide arch and slashed through the vertebrae of two stalkin. By flowing the momentum of the blade in a lightning fast circular arc he was able to use centrifugal force to his advantage and cleaved through a third's ribcage and spinal column. The other two took notice of their suddenly destroyed comrades and hefted their crude spears. Before they could even resemble combat readiness Link fell upon them and with a swift twist of this body, launched himself into a spin attack that beheaded both skeletal nuisances.

There were plenty of stalkin in the town for Link to sharpen his combat skills on, but soon they were piling into the town in droves. It unnerved him how many of these creatures there were and he was slowly getting pushed back. Somehow he ended up on the bridge in the middle of town both ends literally covered in hoards of walking bones. Fighting them off on both sides was difficult, made even more so that he only had a wooden sword and no shield to block with. But then the raving crowds of bones quieted down, and from the crowd emerged the most unique stalfos he had ever seen. It wore red and grey patterned armor with what looked like the remains of a blue uniform covering its hands and feet accompanied by a warrior kilt suspended by a belt around its waist. Once it was only just outside striking range with his sword it stopped and most unexpectedly spoke.

"So you are this era's hero, you fought as skilled as the hero of time this day! My master wanted you dead as quickly as possible, but fortunately for you my honor won't allow me to stand by and watch any longer. Having you be picked apart by a horde of combat inept simpletons... is a hollow victory, NO! I want the honor of slaying you myself, one on one, as honorable swordsmen! En garde" and without further ado the stalfos drew forth a red undulating blade that looked as ancient as the stalfos itself. The battle had to have been one of the hardest battles Link has ever faced. The swordsman before him was truly a master before death and continued to hone his skills to perfection during the immortality gained with being a stalfos. He blocked every strike, parried every blow, countered every technique and the worst part, he never tired. Link's arms were straining with the sheer power of each of the hits he blocked till the point of his shoulders becoming numb. The stalfos brought his blade down once more and Link's arms moved the wooden blade to intercept. But that last strike proved too much and the wooden sword split, getting cloven clean in half.

"You were truly a worthy adversary. But today you shall die!" the moment seemed to last forever as the sword raised high above the stalfos' head and prepared to deal the death blow. Time seemed to slow as the sword reached its peak and began its decent. Suddenly a flash of light caught the eyes of Link as he saw a sword blade bury itself in the dirt in front of him. Leaping forward he gripped the handle of the sword and with a roll came up next to the stalfos and bisected him just under the rib cage.

"I guess it is not my destiny to defeat the hero after all. Link I'm sorry that we met this way, if it were different I would have been honored to battle along side you. Unfortunately... we stalkind... are but puppets... of those who... hold... power." the magic that animated the stalfos slowly dissipated and the glowing orbs of his eyes disappeared. Without a leader the stalkin could not fight effectively as a unit any more, but instead they charged the hero as a chaotic mob with a lust for death. But before they could touch him, a ring of familiar wooden puppets dropped down around the hero and began to battle the wild stalkin. Link felt a tug on his body and in a second found himself in a tree with a hand clamped to his mouth.

"Its a good thing I got here on time, isn't it Link?" whispered a high pitched voice that Link recognized. Turning his head to see revealed the one who had pulled him out of the large mass of wildly attacking stalkin was none other than the Skull Kid who protected the sacred grove. The puppets pushed back the stalkin and surprisingly picked up the fallen weapons of the ones they killed and used them against them. More and more puppets were summoned as the stalkin began to separate from a large hoard to smaller collected groups. For every ten stalkin the puppets killed only one puppet would fall and would be easily replaced by the skullkid. Soon the whole village was cleared of stalkin and the puppets disappeared to whence they came. Satisfied the Skull Kid lowered himself down to the ground alongside Link.

"Answers cannot be uttered here, stow your questions know not to ask, these words not meant for certain ears, later this knowledge will be your task. Gather your gear and meet me at the sacred grove." his voice and speech patterns were odd, as if something was affecting him. With a final wave to Link he vanished into the air not to be seen again that night. Soon the villagers gathered in the town near Link and one by one thanked him for his aid.

"So I guess you have to leave this village once again Link, grand adventures seem to follow your every footstep eh Link. Well good luck and if you ever need a place to stop and rest please remember to visit, our doors are always open to you!" the mayor said and patted Link on the back much in the way he felt a goron would given the chance. With all the congratulations and thank yous out of the way he was finally able to head home for some more sleep. It was still a few hours from dawn and he needed all the rest he could get before this journey. Looking down at the sword in his hand he realized that it was his Ordon sword. 'I locked that chest after I put back the gale boomerang... how did Skull Kid get into it?' his question, like the rest he had, was left unanswered and he made his way home. After climbing the ladders and finally arriving at his bed he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, I just wanted to take this time to apologize to the general public for my misdemeanors. I, Bondo Sheetmetal, would like to apologize for the tardiness of my third chapter. This chapter is weeks out of schedule and it is all my fault, with a combination of weekend vacations, vicious bouts of writer's block, and plain, simple, laziness on my part. I am truly sorry for my transgressions, I hope that all the members of this glorious site are forgiving. So please feast upon this third chapter and know that chapter four is underway.  
**

**Rejection is bitter**

Link awoke from his dreamless slumber, the first he has had in a long time, and felt better than he had in weeks. After sliding down the ladder, he made his way to the kitchen for some much needed breakfast. Two sunny side up eggs, some fried fish and Ordon goat cheese later, he was sliding down the ladder to the basement. Turning on his lamp, the only thing besides the wooden sword that he would carry, made his way to the chest in the middle of the room.

He pulled out the Hero's Clothes first, the forest green tunic accompanied by a white undershirt, leggings, and a chain shirt. Then he pulled out his trusted Hylian shield and set it down on top of the clothes, and lastly he pulled out the scabbard for the Ordon sword. Sliding on the Hero's Clothes he stopped to marvel how they seemed to fit even after a few months of hard ranching and farm work. Next he checked the pockets, those impossibly deep pockets that seemed to be able to carry everything he needed. The only clue as to how they worked was the writing on the inside of the pockets saying the phrase "Handy Haversack". Finally he slid the scabbard onto the sword belt and hooked his shield on as well.

With all his gear now in its proper place he exited the basement via the ladder. Upon reaching the main floor of his house he found where he placed the Ordon sword last night. Slowly he inspected the blade for excess ware or a dull edge, upon concluding its condition was satisfactory he slid it into its scabbard. Now that he had all of his things he made for the door, but as his hand closed around the handle he had a thought. Uncertainly he let go of the door and made his way back up to the bed platform, slowly he picked up the small folded piece of paper. Following a long second of self-debating he finally decided to take it with him and slid it into his pocket. After once again sliding down this ladder he opened the front door of his house. Bright morning light shone down upon him as he took in a deep breathe, today was a good day to leave.

Knowing that Faron woods weren't very far at all he decided that he would walk. With one final wave good bye to the village, he began his short trek to the Sacred Grove. He missed the smell of the forest, the feeling of being free and exploring, it brought back memories of good times. He walked through the forest in peaceful silence, even the usual Deku Baba were gone from this area. A long morning of walking later, he finally he arrived at the Forest temple.

_Ah the forest temple,_he thought fondly remembering all the fun he had while exploring and battling creatures. He couldn't help but feel nostalgia just by wandering by this place, but he had other business to attend to so he pressed on. It wasn't much longer when he arrived at the chasms that separated him from the Sacred Grove. Just as he was about to start looking for the golden chicken that would fly him across, long, flat, wooden beams fell into place across the chasm's many outcroppings. Surprised by the sudden convenience he made his way across before someone changed their mind.

Upon entering the sacred grove's many circular passages he drew his sword and waited. He stood waiting for ten minutes, when nothing arrived to attack him he finally slid his sword back into its scabbard. He wandered through the passages until he made it all the way to the pedestal of time. Upon walking into the small clearing where the master sword lay in its proper resting place, he expected to find the Skull Kid. He was once again disappointed when he saw no one there. Throwing up his arms in defeat Link decided to head home, willing to play off the whole event of last night as a dream. Once he turned around he came face to face with the Skull Kid, who was much too close for comfort.

Link sprang into action and drew his blade ready for the battle with the puppets to happen. But all he got was an incredulous look from the Skull Kid. With a shake of his head he floated over to the area in front of the sword of evil's bane and sat down. Link slowly sheathed the blade he carried with a confused look on his face and followed suit, sitting down in the grass waiting for the Skull Kid to speak.

"Seriously, I ask you to come meet me and you pull a sword on me? How rude of you Link, I thought growing up in a rural background would have made you kinder and humbler," the chuckling spirit of the grove said once Link had taken his seat.

_"Yea sure blame the man who you attacked with puppets, twice, just for entering this place_," Link thought and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you can't blame me for following protocol! Just be glad I attacked you with puppets, I've used far worse things to threaten other people's lives," the puppet master retorted.

_"Oh like what, a... wait, how is it you hear what I'm thinking?" _Link paused as he realized the Skull Kid had, in fact, replied to his thoughts.

"Believe me, when you have lived for as long as I have... telepathy is as easy as breathing. But we are not here to discuss how old as I am. We are here to discuss the recent happenings of this world and that of the Twilight Realm."

_"The Twilight Realm?_ he thought utterly surprised, _How do you know something is happening in the twilight realm? It's completely sealed away!"_

"Oh the door is closed, but tell me, how often do you see light shining from under a door? Even if sealed, there are always cracks around the door that you can see through. What I saw was a land yet to know of the peril it would soon feel and what I felt, was something that I never thought I would ever feel again. It was the influence of a power that drove me to madness. That is the sole reason I came to you Link." he said and slowly stood, his hands reaching up to grasp the side of his head. After a brief moment of nothing, he suddenly pulled and the mask that was his face fell to the ground.

The empty eye sockets of the mask stared up at Link and unnerved him, but the sight of the Skull Kid's face left him with the most unnerving feeling of all... recognition. The wooden features, the beak, the entire face was so familiar that it nearly drove him mad. He remembered an open field and this Skull Kid talking about a fairy boy who taught him a song. He remembered a battle between him and this Skull Kid on top of a clock tower. Finally he remembered a mask, an evil enchanted mask that took over the Skull Kid's mind. He remembered that it grew more powerful and then, abandoned its host to fly up to the moon.

Link looked at the Skull Kid with a shocked look upon his face; those memories were not his own... they were the memories of the Hero of Time. But how had he seen them? How could he feel what his ancestor had felt so long ago? The Skull Kid approached Link and placed his hands on his shoulders and spoke comfortingly to him.

"It's all going to be alright Link, as hero of the goddesses you are connected to all the past incarnations of the hero. Although it doesn't happen often sometimes memories do transmit over from the other hero's life times." he said knowingly.

_"How do you know all this? Being centuries old is one thing, but this vast knowledge is something else.__" _Link thought confusedly trying to figure everything out.

"I am the guardian of the Master sword and the Temple of Time presently, where else did I get this knowledge? The goddesses sent me a messenger to appoint me with this job, so I asked them some questions in return." he said with a dismissive tone, "but that aside we need to focus on the task at hand, not letting that power destroy both of our worlds. It is imperative that it be stopped as soon as possible."

_"But if it is in the twilight realm, how am I to travel there and stop it. It's not like I can use the mirror of twilight anymore."_ Link replied knowingly pointing out the obvious.

"Unfortunately I do not know this answer, but I might know who will. He is impossible to find when he doesn't want to be found, so do not go looking for him. Instead you should look for three hidden items scattered around this world. They were items that the hero of time left in my care just before he passed from this world." the Skull Kid said with a sombre expression across his face.

_"I have been all over Hyrule, I have collected items from every temple, I have searched this country from top to bottom. Where in this world would three hidden items be?" _He stated pointedly.

"You may have searched what you could see but what of the places you couldn't? In the Temple of Time, Arbiter's Grounds and Death Mountain there are forgotten halls of great importance, their entrances are hidden from normal eyes." he said with a smile and reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small purple magnifying glass with three red crystals lining its upper frame. "This is the Lens of Truth it allows one to see things others would not. Unfortunately you do not have the skill of magic that the hero of time had but do not worry. Its energy will recharge in places of power like the springs of the light spirits." he handed it to Link carefully and smiled.

After Link examined the Lens of Truth he opened one of his bags and gently set it inside. With a short bow of thanks he began walking towards the Master Sword. He was ready to take up the sword of evil's bane and bring down the power that runs wild in the twilight realm. He stood in front of the blade and basked in its glory for a brief second then reached out to take the blade.

Link awoke with a splitting head ache and an aching back, looking straight up he looked upon the Skull Kid who was shaking his head. He slowly sat up and looked towards the pedestal and saw that the Master Sword remained where it sat. Link realized that the sword of evil's bane had rejected him.

_"The sword rejected me?! Why, how? Skull Kid you are the guardian, why would it reject me? Doesn't it know that there is an evil that is causing chaos and destruction in both of our worlds?__" Link's_ mind was doing flips and grasping at straws. To his knowledge the master sword never rejected the holder of the Triforce of Courage. So why would it start now?

"I know not why it would choose to reject you, it could be that it cannot fight two great evils in such a short time, maybe it can only be used against an evil that was recognized by the goddesses… or maybe this evil should have never been revived and its return is unprecedented." he said with his voice full of uncertainty.

_"Looks like I will have nothing but my Ordon sword as protection. But thank you anyway Skull Kid I shall remember your kindness and aid." _He replied to the Skull Kid but he knew he needed to get going so he stood. But as he looked back at the skull kid one last time he noticed that he was in deep thought and was muttering to himself.

_"Something bothering you Skull Kid? You look like you forgot something important." _He projected his concern to the troubled guardian. As if shaken out of sleep the Skull Kid looked surprisingly up at Link and then shook his head quickly.

"No, no… it's nothing… just return to me when you have collected the three items. I cannot say more at the moment; go you must be on your way." He then leaped into the air and vanished, the only thing marking that he had been here was the mask lying in the grass in front of Link.

Link strode out of the Sacred Grove with determination on his face; he decided that he might as well head over to the Arbiter's Grounds first, to get the one with the most difficult memories out of the way. Upon entering into Hyrule field he couldn't help but feel a tingle on the back of his neck. His senses picked up on something that he hadn't noticed, or something he couldn't see. He reached into his pocket and found the Lens of Truth within seconds. As soon as he lifted it to eye level he felt a powerful force come over him and he felt his eyes close. When he opened them again the world was tinted in an odd reddish color, and standing literally inches from his face was a short gaunt man with a large toothy grin.


End file.
